Courtesy: USA Diving
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Ellie Smart captured the bronze medal Saturday in the women’s 20-meter event, bringing Team USA its sole medal from the FINA High Diving World Cup.
In her first World Cup appearance, Smart held third place through the first two rounds Friday. On Saturday she maintained her spot with a strong performance that included an inward double somersault and a ½ twist for 62.40 points and a front double somersault with 2 ½ twists for 77.00 points. She finished with 277.70 points and a spot at the podium. Rhiannan Iffland of Australia won gold with 322.95 points, while Canada’s Lysanne Richard earned silver with 285.75 points.
Ginger Huber scored 258.30 points, including 63.70 points off an inward tuck, allowing her to place fifth overall. Katy Etterman finished competition at 11th place with 172.45 points. Her strongest dive came in the final round as an inward double somersault with a ½ twist scored 62.40 points.
In the men’s 27-meter, David Colturi was scratched due to injury. Steve LoBue placed sixth with 347.10 points, including 80.50 points on his final dive – a back triple somersault with 3 twists. Great Britain’s Gary Hunt captured the gold with 431.55 points and Romania’s Constantin Popovici scored 424.65 points for silver. Oleksiy Prygorov of Ukraine earned the bronze with 392.30 points.
At the conclusion of the World Cup, Smart, Huber and LoBue all qualified to compete in next summer’s 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.
